


The Bet

by NewWorldFool



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Mutual Pining, PINING KEITH, oblivious lance (even to his own feelings), shiro is also there but hes really minor soo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 13:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14189853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewWorldFool/pseuds/NewWorldFool
Summary: “Alright” Pidge announced, standing up on her chair. “Lance and Keith have one month to take down the most Galra. If Keith wins, he gets Lance’s room. If Lance wins, Keith has to go on a date ending in said room.” The team nodded in agreement as she got back down from her chair following the announcement.Lance held out a hand towards Keith, “What do you say Mullet, we on for this bet?”“Definitely,” he responded, grasping Lance’s hand in a firm shake.-(or the one where Keith loses a bet and has to go on an extravagant date with Lance)





	The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, ok, this is heavily inspired by the episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine with the same name. I thought that it really fit our boys, and really wanted to write it. Hope you enjoy it!!

It had started innocently enough. Just a simple wager to see who the better paladin was.

  


The team had been casually chatting amongst themselves in the dining hall after practice, conversations flowing while they ate their food goo. Somehow, as always, they delved into the kind-of-sort-of rivalry between Keith and Lance. What had once been a tense game of who could outdo the other was now mostly just friendly banter and half hearted provocations. 

  


After Allura had brought up how Keith normally fought the bulk of the galra soldiers, a twitch of irritation found its way into Lance’s mind.

  


“I bet I can take down more Galra than Keith by the end of the month,” he blurted without thinking, hearing a few short laughs from the others. He shot them a glare for their lack of faith in him, and shoved a spoonful of food goo into his mouth.

  


“I’ll take you up on that challenge,” Keith said, an amused grin on his face, which almost made Lance choke on his goo. After a brief coughing fit, his eyes landed on the red paladin, eyebrows quirked in interest.

  


“Hold on, hold on,” Pidge cut in, obviously intrigued. “We need stakes for this kind of bet. And don’t say the satisfaction of being a defender of the universe or of being the better paladin, because we all know that’s too lame.” Her eyes seemed to filter over to Shiro at the last bit, directing it at him.

  


“I’ll bet anything because I know I can’t lose,” Lance said, voice full of mock arrogance and a shit eating grin on his face.

  


“That’s a lot of confidence coming from someone who complained for almost three vargas after barely getting grazed in the shoulder during our last mission,” Keith retorted.

  


“It was a lot worse than it looked!”

  


“Whatever you say sharpshooter.”

  


“I think Lance should bet his room,” the green paladin suggested, “it’s a lot bigger than any of ours for some reason.”

  


He seemed to take this to heart as he pondered it thoughtfully. He really did like his room, but he also didn’t want to appear weak either. He couldn’t back down, especially in front of Keith. Lance finally gave a nod of approval. “I’m down with that.”

  


“But Lance, buddy, your room is like one of your favorite places in the castle,” Hunk pointed out, putting another scoop of goo on his plate. “Losing that would be one of the worst things for you.”

  


“All the more reason to win, right?” Lance said with a grin.

  


“And what would be the worst thing for you?” Pidge, as well as everyone else in the room, turned to Keith expectantly.

  


With no hesitation whatsoever, he deadpanned with “Being one of the people he takes to that room.” His expression was carefully blank as the room erupted in a brief fit of laughter. Nobody had been expecting it, least of all Lance, and he felt a small ping in his chest at the comment.

  


“Alright” Pidge announced, standing up on her chair. “Lance and Keith have one month to take down the most Galra. If Keith wins, he gets Lance’s room. If Lance wins, Keith has to go on a date ending in said room.” The team nodded in agreement.

  


Lance held out a hand towards Keith, “What do you say Mullet, we on for this bet?”

  


“Definitely,” he responded, grasping Lance’s hand in a firm shake.

  


“I rather like this bet. It’ll definitely boost morale amongst you fellow paladins,” Allura commented.

  


“That’s one way to put it,” Shiro said, a sigh escaping his mouth.

  


~ ~ ~

  


Later that night, nobody would know how a red faced Keith had silently cursed himself for offering a date to  _ Lance _ of all people over a stupid  _ bet.  _ He cursed himself and his stupid feelings until sleep came for him.

  


And nobody would know that Lance was silently trying to decipher the ping he felt in his chest when he heard that Keith thought a date with him was the worst thing he could lose. His thinking would keep him up for hours on end until sleep finally came for him as well.

  


~ ~ ~

  


The next day before training, Pidge came into the common room holding Keith’s and Lance’s helmets in her arms. In all honesty, she looked like a mess with her frizzed hair and prominent bags under her eyes. Keith raised a curious brow while Lance tilted his head in confusion.

  


She dumped them on the table in front of them with a triumphant smirk. “Alright losers, listen up. I stayed up all night working on a modification for your helmets.” Shiro, who was also in the room gave a concerned look at the mention of the all nighter, but Pidge simply waved him off. “They now have a counter for how many Galra each of you fight and defeat, so there is no room for cheating or losing track.”

  


“Really?” Lance asked, taking his helmet and pushing it on his head. Lo and behold, there was a little counter in the top left of his visor with a big zero. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keith do the same thing, an oddly cute dazed expression taking over his face. Wait, did Lance just think he was cute? He shakes his head, redirecting his attention to Pidge. “I’m really impressed, you’re taking this bet thing really seriously.”

  


“I have a bet of my own with Hunk about how this will play out,” her tone was casual, but she had a glint in her eye that shot shivers down Lance’s spine. That was definitely something to worry about.

  


“What… What kind of bet?” he asked cautiously, slowly bringing his gaze to meet Pidge’s.

  


“It’ll ruin the results if I tell you now.” Her answer was simple, but it gave Lance a bad feeling in his stomach. He glanced over to Keith and could see a subtle worry in his expression that he was sure mirrored his own.

  


Lance swallowed down the lump in his throat as a new wave of nerves hit him. Beating Keith? Even if he started it in the first place, he knew deep down that he couldn’t actually win this. Keith was so much better than he was, both in the lions and in face-to-face combat. He would always be on top, leaving Lance in the dust. 

  


But would he show this insecurity? Definitely not. You know what they say, fake it till you make it. And Lance was a pro at faking it.

  


~ ~ ~

  


As the month waned on, their scores remained pretty neck and neck. Lance, with his sharp shooting, managed to keep up with Keith’s abrasive fighting style. And as time passed, Lance started to gain hope that maybe, just maybe, he could win. His heart pounded at the thought, and he had to convince himself that it was at idea of winning, and not at the possibility of going on a date with Keith. Nope, definitely not.

  


About a week before the deadline, he sat in the kitchen, pen and paper in hand, watching Hunk cook for dinner that night.

  


“Planning for that date with Keith?” Hunk asked, pulling an assortment of alien goods from the cabinet.

  


“Yeah man, I might actually win this time,” Lance replied, a grin on his face, “this is going to be the worst date he’s ever been on. If he’s ever had one in the first place.” He held up the paper he was working on for Hunk to see, which had an elaborate outline of plans and ideas.

  


Hunk looked it over carefully, a sort of knowing look on his face. “Wow, buddy, that’s a lot of effort for just a bet. You don’t even put this much effort into regular flirting”

  


“Well yeah, over the top is my brand. You know that. Gotta show him I’m the best,” he claimed, his grin shifting into a sort of smirk.

  


“I’m just saying dude, maybe you’re trying to get Keith’s attention in more than one way” Hunk said, pouring a bottle of what looked like blue goop into a bowl.

  


Lance dropped the smirk, eyes clouded in confusion. He didn’t like where this was going. “I don’t get it-”

  


Hunk immediately interrupts. “I’m saying that maybe, deep down, you might like Keith. Like, _ like him _ like him. It would explain all of the teasing and unnecessary competitiveness between the two of you.”

  


“ _ What?! _ I… But…  _ No! _ ” He sputters, feeling blood rush to his face, “I do _ not _ like Keith! He’s my rival!” 

  


“Whatever you say buddy”

  


They fall into a silence as Lance looks down to stare at his paper again. Liking Keith huh? Of course it’s something he’s considered, but hearing it out loud and spelled out for him was another story. Maybe the rivalry he fabricated really was an elaborate way to catch Keith’s attention, while at the same time repressing his own feelings? Thinking about these things really made his head hurt, so he simply shoved the thought deep in his heart never to be seen again. 

  


Hopefully.

  


~ ~ ~

  


Almost too soon did the last day of the bet arrive. Pidge had turned off the visible counters in the helmets to  _ make the reveal more dramatic _ as she put it.

  


After Lance had finished his preparations in the common room for the possibility that he won, he found his way to the bridge, where Allura was tediously working on their next battle plan.

  


“Princess” he sang, walking up next to her, “Do you have a map? Because I’m lost in your eyes.”

  


“I’m not sending you on a last minute mission so that you can get more points in that bet you have with Keith,” she said immediately, not even glancing away from what she was doing.

  


“What? Pfft, I wasn’t going to ask that.”

  


Allura pulled her gaze away from her work and trained it on Lance with such intensity it sent shivers down his spine. “Lance, even if this bet has led to you and Keith working harder than ever for the coalition and taking more Galra down, I can’t play favorites. The results of it can cause serious strain not only between you two, but on the team.”

  


He gave a defeated sigh, putting his hands up in a surrender, “Alright princess, I understand. I’ll see you at the reveal party in a few vargas.”

  


She gave a nod, going back to the plan. As Lance was about to walk out the door, he heard her voice say “Good luck Lance.” He looked back and gave her a smile. He needed it.

  


~ ~ ~

  


He walked around for what felt like days before Pidge’s voice sounded over the castle comms.

“Alright losers, it’s time to see who won the bet between Lance and Keith. Everyone assemble in the common room.”

  


_ It’s time,  _ Lance thought. He almost felt nauseous from the anticipation. Ignoring this, he swallows down a gulp of air and starts making his way to the common area. Just as he’s about to enter the doorway, he runs into Keith- literally.

  


“Ouch, hey watch it Mullet face,” Lance yelps, putting a hand on his nose where it collided with Keith’s forehead. He pulls it away to check for blood, and nope. It’s clean.

  


“Um, sorry” Keith responds with a small nod before turning to enter the room.

  


“You can’t get away from me that easily. Wait, hey- Keith!” Lance quickly follows him inside.

  


“And so they arrive,” Pidge snickers. The room is pretty much how he left it earlier, except there is now a large holo-screen in front of the couches. Presumably to show the results. Everyone is already waiting, seated in front of it. Lance notices this and sits down on the edge next to Hunk.

  


“You ready to have your butt handed to you?” he quipped as Keith sat on the other end.

  


“I don’t know, are you?”

  


“Alright, alright” Pidge says, raising her voice to be heard. “Thank you everyone for gathering here today to witness the results of this… tedious bet,” Despite the last bit, there’s a smile on her face. There are whoops from the couch (mostly from Hunk and Lance), as she holds the remote in her hand. 

  


“Get on with it,” Lance calls.

  


A smirk consumes Pidge’s face. “Whatever you say,” she says, pressing the button. The screen whirls to life and a scoreboard can be seen. On it, Lance and Keith’s names are displayed with three slots of scrolling numbers each. Everyone stares intently as they go for seconds, minutes, hours, Lance can’t really tell. He feels anticipation swell in his stomach just watching, waiting. Finally, the numbers stop and he feels his eyes go so wide they could pop out of his head.

  


_ Keith: 283 _

_ Lance: 290 _

  


_ Wait… What??  _ Lance immediately thought,  _ that can’t be right. _ He shakes his head to make sure he’s seeing clearly, but the screen doesn’t change. Before his thoughts get too ahead of him, he pushes them aside to focus on setting into action his ridiculous victory plan. He wiped the surprised look off his face to replace it with a shit eating grin, jumping off the couch as an array of confetti erupts from the poppers he had hid in the room earlier. He launches into an elaborate victory dance before settling in front of Keith, who is still seated on the couch. The others clap and watch with curious eyes.

  


“Oh no…” Keith mumbles, his ears tinted a slight shade of red that Lance guesses is from embarrassment.

  


“Oh yes,” the blue paladin’s smirk grows wider as he drops down to one knee, pulling out a macaroni ring. “Keith Kogane, will you go on the worst date ever with me? You have to say yes.”

  


Keith’s entire face has erupted in a deep scarlet as he averts his gaze.  _ Cute _ , Lance thinks before he catches himself and feels heat threatening to seep into his own face. After a moment, Keith finally murmurs a “yes” in a voice so small Lance almost missed it.

  


“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you. What?” he teases.

  


“YES!” This time it’s loud. So loud, it catches everyone off guard. Lance instantly flushes at the proclamation. Despite this, the room erupts in applause from the other paladins, Allura, and Coran.

  


“Have fun you lovebirds”

  


“Congrats”

  


“Enjoy yourselves, but not too much”

  


It was full of other comments like this, but Lance could hardly hear it. His head was buzzing, and he couldn’t understand why. Or rather, he didn’t want to acknowledge it. At some point, Keith had taken the ring from his fingers and pocketed it, leaving them feeling a combination of warm yet empty.

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to split this in two parts, so stay tuned for the date. I'm sorry there wasn't much interaction between the two, but I promise the second part will be almost purely them.
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed! It'll help motivate me to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.
> 
> Until then, drop by my tumblrs if you want.  
> Main- https://Scrum-Debates.tumblr.com  
> Writing- https://NewWorldFoolz.tumblr.com


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